Volvo Cars has just bought Swedish race car manufacturer Polestar’s tuning division and will use the Polestar name in a high-performance line to challenge Audi RS, Mercedes-AMG and BMW’s M car models.
Volvo already sells Polestar-tuned versions of the V60 wagon and S60 sedan under a cooperation deal signed in 2013. Volvo is following Jaguar Land Rover as well as German rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz in offering sportier versions of its regular models. Polestar sales are set to as much as double to 1,500 cars in the medium term from 750 targeted for this year, Volvo said.
Polestar, which only works with Volvos, uses performance-enhancing software and tunes cars to increase mid-range engine performance by making changes to the gearbox and throttle response. Volvo and Polestar have been working in motor sport since 1996.
Existing Polestar Performance employees will become Volvo employees. Volvo aims to boost its global annual sales to 800,000 vehicles by the end of the decade from a target of 500,000 cars this year. Last year, Volvo sold 465,866 cars.
